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MWC to Feature Augmented RealityFebruary 26, 2018

As the beginning of Mobile World Congress approaches, we are hearing a lot of information about devices that may be unveiled at the event. Samsung will be using augmented reality to show off the Galaxy S9 design to MWC attendees. The Xiaomi Mi 7, which may not launch next week is looking to be a powerhouse. Thanks to firmware files obtained by our trusted source, we have a lot of additional information on the upcoming Xiaomi flagship. To start off with, it will launch with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, as the CEO himself confirmed that information. It will likely be the first Xiaomi flagship to launch with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon if the rumored Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S isn’t unveiled first. Rumors suggest that there may be two variants of the Mi 7—a regular and a plus model. The Plus model is rumored to have a 6.01″ OLED panel from Samsung. The Mi 7 is also rumored to be the first Xiaomi phone with wireless charging. Other rumors state that the devices will feature dual cameras with several AI-enhanced features, battery capacity of these two devices fluctuates wildly between outlets—some reports state the smaller model will have a 3,200 mAh battery while the larger would have a 3,500mAh battery, and other (rather dubious) reports state the phones may have a gargantuan 4,480 mAh battery. Now that the rumored specifications are described, we can discuss what we believe to be the specifications for the Xiaomi Mi 7.

Sony will introduce the Xperia XZ2 at MWC 2018, as a recently leaked prototype unit shows a missing headphone jack and has the fingerprint scanner on the back. Even the date, February 26th gets displayed, which is likely when a new Xperia handset might be up for public launch. Sony might be adopting flexible displays or some form of curved design with the upcoming products. The waves in a leaked video could indicate a new type of haptic feedback, perhaps, using targeted vibrations to give the feeling of physical buttons and controls in precise locations on the touchscreen. MWC 2018 is nearly here, and we have seen most of the companies' devices that will be unveiled at the event. A credo that most of the major mobile phone manufacturers have followed in recent years, betting on redesigning their range caps and not staying in the same style. The Galaxy S8 or the Note 8 can be considered the best example of that. Past rumors have suggested that Sony will bring a new design language to its Xperia phones to keep it more in tune with today's trend and do away with its age-old design of having chunky bezels and a blocky shape.

Xiaomi Mi 7 Rumored Specifications Based on Leaked Firmware FilesThe following information is based on firmware files obtained by @FunkyHuawei, the man behind the FunkyHuawei.club service, which allows users to update, unbrick, or rebrand Huawei and Honor phones for a fee. He has provided access to these firmware files exclusively to XDA-Developers. Within the firmware files, we can confirm the most obvious aspects: it is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and runs Android 8.0 Oreo with MIUI 9 (and Project Treble compatibility to boot). There is also an explicit mention of the device having an OLED display, so it’s a safe bet that part is true. This device may be the first Xiaomi smartphone with an Always on Display feature. The layout file indicates that the always-on ambient display will show the time, date, battery level, and up to 3 notification badges. There’s nothing really out of the ordinary about this feature, except maybe the battery level, which is a feature many Pixel 2 owners were hoping for. There is evidence pointing towards the existence of dual cameras. This is thanks to various binaries in the vendor partition that are there to allow Android to use the dual cameras. It will have dual SIM card support but no dual SD card support, an IR blaster, real-time Bokeh in the camera app (thanks to the Snapdragon 845), Electronic Image Stabilization, audio technology from Dirac, Qualcomm’s aptX and aptX HD Bluetooth audio codecs, and NFC support. And the battery capacity listed in the firmware is 3,170 mAh, which is less than the battery capacity of the Xiaomi Mi 6 (3,350 mAh) but not considerably so.

Sony is expected to launch its first bezel-less flagship smartphones at Mobile World Congress later this month. One of the products is expected to be the Xperia XZ2 with bezel-less design, 4K display, and Snapdragon 845 mobile chipset. However, a new leak suggests that the XZ2 could be accompanied by another device, called Xperia XZ2 Pro. The Xperia XZ2 Pro has been spotted in the form of an HTML benchmark test. The screenshot of the test obtained by GizChina shows the smartphone carrying model number Sony H1866, and could officially launch as the Xperia XZ2 Pro. The smartphone is expected to be the world’s first smartphone with a 4K OLED display.The leaked benchmark also shows that the 4K display will support the new taller 18:9 aspect ratio. It means the Xperia XZ2 Pro’s display could have a resolution of 3840×1920 pixels, which is a whopping 7.3 million pixels on a smartphone. The benchmark also shows that the device will run Android 8.1 Oreo, an updated version of Oreo out-of-the-box. There have been rumors that Sony is working on a smartphone with 4K display in the past. Most of those rumors hinted at the device being named as Xperia XZ2, but it now seems that the smartphone will officially debut as Xperia XZ2 Pro instead. The leaked screenshot does confirm the existence of a Sony smartphone with a display supporting 4K resolution.The leaks indicate that the 4K OLED display on the Sony smartphone will be made by LG. The smartphone is expected to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset coupled with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It is expected to feature dual 12-megapixel-rear camera setup, and include 3.5mm audio jack.

The next Xperia smartphone is also expected to support wireless charging, which further hints at metal and glass design similar to new Apple iPhones. Sony’s outgoing CEO Kaz Hirai recently confirmed that the company is not dropping out of the mobile business despite declining sale and market share. Hirai also added the new models from the company would be competitive with new design and industry first features.